This week, I’m focusing on our visits to Guadalajara during 1968 through 1970. I’ve shown you one or two of these pictures before, when I wrote about the “lemon factory“, and I’m sure we visited this church more than once. I can’t for the life of me remember what part of the city this was in, but I have clear memories of traveling around Guadalajara and experiencing the Mexican speed bumps known as topes (and apparently, these small metallic domes still exist, although they seem to have been updated somewhat since the 1970s). One of our frequent stops in the neighborhood was a Dairy Queen restaurant; the ice cream and shakes were especially welcome on a hot summer evening.

And on every visit to the house we always looked forward to seeing the family’s Labrador Retriever, Chocolate, sleeping by the front door in his favorite posture — with his feet braced against the wall.

We all wore bright orange dresses in 1970

I have some vague memories of Frank Gonzales’ entire team gathering at least once in a meeting room at one of the local hospitals, and my dad must have shot these three photos during one such conference. I’m not sure why there was a piano there! But I do recall that we drank soda pop from cardboard cups, which are visible in these pictures.

Gamaliel Hernandez is bending down to talk, while Frank Gonzales sits in the window, right

I apologize for the vague descriptions, but I feel as though I’m trying to describe a half-forgotten dream! Since I was only about 9 years old at the time, it’s not too surprising that I can’t remember as much as I wish.

I’m looking out the door of the church, while my mom is standing at the window

Pastor Reyes and his wife — both very kind and generous people

Visiting one of my favorite places, Guadalajara’s Mercado Libertad

It’s also no surprise that the area around the Mercado Libertad has changed so completely over the years that even if my memories were crystal clear, I would still be completely lost if I ever returned. There are no street signs visible in these photos; and although the image below includes the twin spires of the Iglesia del Sagrado Corazon in the left background (behind the big round Pepsi sign), I still wasted a lot of time searching Google Maps, trying to figure out the location where my dad shot the picture.

Guadalajara